Lack of trust with bosses when employees call in sick

Around 60% of bosses of small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) don’t always believe their employees when they call in sick, according to new research.

Over a third of bosses admit to checking social media profiles of staff they suspect of ‘pulling a sickie’ and one in four bosses have no qualms about asking colleagues to call and check on employees they think are lying about being ill. It’s no surprise then that nearly half of employees (46%) say they feel nervous about calling their boss – even when they are genuinely ill.

The research by AXA PPP healthcare also found that the impact of employee sick leave varies with company size. While micro-businesses of up to ten staff have on average 5.2 sick days per employee per year, this increases to 6.8 days for companies with 100 to 250 employees. And the financial impact of sick leave for larger sized SMEs is significant – estimated at £3,500 a year for micro-businesses, this jumps to £40,500 a year for companies with 100 to 250 employees.  

The research also found evidence of a problem with stress in the workplace:

• Half of SME employees (48%) say they feel stressed at work two to three or more times a week.
• Money (34%) tops the list of stressful worries, followed by work (31%) and family issues (18%).
• Two thirds (63%) of SME bosses admit their companies don’t provide training for managers to look out for signs of stress, anxiety or depression in employees.
• Over half of bosses (55%) don’t actively monitor employee stress levels and three quarters (73%) say they have no initiatives in place to support good mental health in the workplace.

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